Lavabit, email service used by Snowden, shuts down

"This experience has taught me one very important lesson: without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ recommend
against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States."
Most of the internet data for instance is channelled through US servers or proxy's. That might seem obvious however, the repercussions are that the
internet server business will become much more specialised, and entrusted to companies outside of the US. Doesn't matter anymore if there are servers
that could be trustworthy in the US, the covert shiite has seriously damaged the US economically in a huge technological, and entrepeneurial area,
never mind all the banking systems, infrastructure..whatever. You need not trust any of it anymore, that's where I am.
Now, what did our, (the UK's) secretary of state William Hague say about the Snowden revelations Meh! "If you have done nothing wrong you have
nothing to worry about" what an idiot, not a word about the big picture.

Originally posted by benrl
Lets see, business man, sees a market need, builds a company to fill said need, need just happens to be inconvenient to governments violation of the
law, government shuts company down.

Woohoo land of the free...

They are not even bothering with the illusion of freedom.

edit on 8-8-2013 by benrl because: (no reason given)

Why should they?

We will still cast our vote for them.

I hope and pray the day the sheep finally open their eyes and kick these parasites out of office is soon, although I fear we all will already be
sheered by that time.

Originally posted by dominicus
WOW!!!!!
United Stazi of America....it's like we're living in Hitler controlled Germany!!!!!
I simply cannot EFFIN BELIEVE that these types of acts are going on in American which is supposed to be built on the constitution.
I want to throw up right now and think I will......Uncle Sam is a little beeatch!!!!!

Nazi Germany Tyranny

Congo Tyranny

American Tyranny

dear god you poor people, how will you survive?

Stop begin so damn melodramatic. The website was facilitating someone breaking the law.
Just because we agree with him, (and I do) doesn't mean he wasn't breaking the law.
There are thousands of email servers out there he can use..

You all crying like the world is coming to an end its pathetic.. its like the boy crying wolf but on grand scale.
Your acting like children. There are real issues out there, real problems that deserve our attention..
yet, an internet email account going offline is what makes you cry and moan about liberty?

.. First country to invade America wins.. you guys have really got major social issues!

This is so ironic the POS in office says “hey we don’t have any domestic spying going on” and then they shut down a company that will
not play ball and turn everything over to the non spying NSA it is just so ironic I could cry. Hopefully all this crying will not corrode all the ammo
I’m setting on for ww3! Got that NSA come and get me, Ha Ha Ha you dirty coppers! reply to
post by topdog81

Let's try to make it more clear what happened here. Some of the posts here are to the effect of the government shutting Lavabit down, or forcing them
to shut down.

I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of
hard work by shutting down Lavabit.

This may imply that the government demanded their encryption codes, or access to their clients' communications.. Was this so the government could go
back and see who has sent what across Lavabit? Or so they may now spy on this formerly secure route?

And Levison shut it down down

After significant soul searching, I have decided to suspend operations.

because he was LEGALLY BOUND to give information to the government?

I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot. I feel you deserve to know what’s going on--the first
amendment is supposed to guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say
otherwise

Is he referring to laws that say, 'when the government asks you to cooperate, even in immoral or illegal action, you may not tell anyone they did
so?'

This experience has taught me one very important lesson: without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ recommend
against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.

There is something he needs to tell us, but cannot do so legally. The words here are very carefully chosen.

So , I will speculate what this is about.

The government was pulling a very powerful and secret law on him. This law, order, or whatever, is bound to secrecy by other laws. Of course, " in
the name of national security."
Look again at the final paragraph; I think the secret law goes as follows... it is about who's property all the data is...

All data that passes through any server physically ON AMERICAN SOIL is legally under jurisdiction of the US government.
Companies must submit access to their clients' data, to the government BY LAW, and are forbidden to admit doing so BY LAW. The law was likely passed
at the inception of the PRISM program.
As addressed on Snowdens' revealed power point chart, all of the American provider companies have joined the network over the years since Yahoo in
2008. This is not because each decided to 'jump on the bandwagon' in time.
It is because each took an amount of time to come to compliance with the 2008 law. And the reason we have not heard a yea or nay from any of the
companies is that they are legally bound to silence. Furthermore, it is in each company's interest to reveal nothing, as if people knew flatly that
all data through America, becomes America's, they would seek ways to broadly not do business through America...

A good metaphor to wrap your head around the likely legalese behind this secret law is our National airspace. Though physical property can be owned,
the air above it is under US jurisdiction. Similarly, the data, equally as insubstantial, yet inherent to the property (servers), IS under US
jurisdiction, and HAS BEEN since at least 2008.
All data passing through servers on American soil already belongs to the government. This is what Ladar Levison
of Lavabit vaguely is referring to here. He had no alternatives but to comply with a law no one may speak about, or shut down.

What’s going to happen now? We’ve already started preparing the paperwork needed to continue to fight for the Constitution in the Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals. A favorable decision would allow me resurrect Lavabit as an American company.

He is attempting to challenge this as unconstitutional in court.
People, the big story to be revealed is: the government is not "eavesdropping" on your data. THEY LEGALLY OWN IT!

In the "old days" you could buy into a "secure" IP -- it made you more difficult to track down.

This was important for people to be able to post the TRUTH online about -- let's say an evil, vindictive cult (as an example) without fearing for
your life.

Now because of the new laws (since 9/11), those "secure" IP's must allow NSA access to their client lists and the content of all emails. There is zero
privacy, you can't even buy it if you're an ordinary citizen.

I don't think the average American has any idea of just how much of a police state the US already is. It hasn't sunk in yet. It will when things
become even more blatant.

The irony is, not enough people are feeling the squeeze. It's the poor and downtrodden that fights back, the middle class and up have to much to
loose in their eyes. That's usually, there i don't want to toss out a blanket statement, hehe.

No, we're not at rock bottom yet. Once we descend into the abyss, that's when you'll see a fight.

edit on 8-8-2013 by cenpuppie because:
(no reason given)

While I agree with your premise, I think there is more to it than that.

Yes, we will have to hit rock bottom before the majority of the population is moved to action. However, I genuinely believe that most people would
like to do something, but are so busy working to make ends meet that, when they actually have free time, are too exhausted to do anything proactive.
Thus, the system perpetuates itself, as the people who want (and can) enact change are run ragged on a daily basis, unable to do what they are capable
of doing, because they are doing what they can to simply survive.

Originally posted by DeadSeraph
Scary stuff. It's right there at lavabit.com... too. If this isn't proof the U.S is headed towards a police
state I don't know what is. It seems obvious that congress is completely onboard with these plans, despite the fact they represent an overwhelming
majority of Americans who are NOT in favor of domestic spying.

You have a President who ran on a platform of government transparency and respect for the constitution who turned out to be a liar and has trampled
both, a congress with no regard for the will of the people who put them there, and secret courts that you aren't allowed to know about. So much for
checks and balances?

To quote an ATS thread title, we are already a "Turnkey Totalitarian State." It's taken TPTB decades to erect the framework by little increments.
Now the "little" increments are becoming bigger and more obvious.

Obama is a tool. He was selected because of his color. Because he's Black he could be used to pass unpopular laws and people would be afraid to
oppose him. Opposing Obama would make one a RACIST.

If my hunch is right about the uses for Obama -- things are going to get much worse. White Liberals have been played, as well as most Blacks.

Eventually all Americans will have to get their hands dirty. Unfortunately they will do it too late and it will be much harder then. Freedom isn't
maintained through hoping to preserve yourself and apathy. You have to be willing to lose everything. Even folks monitoring this post. Eventually,
even you, will have to decide what kind of country you want to live in. How much of a soul does an American dollar buy?

Oh, and this is why we should all be our brother's keeper. If no man was want for food and love, mostly love, you'd be hard pressed to find somebody
that would sell you out.

Originally posted by benrl
Lets see, business man, sees a market need, builds a company to fill said need, need just happens to be inconvenient to governments violation of the
law, government shuts company down.

Originally posted by Samuelis
I guess we won't be seeing the development of new spy proof technologies any more. I find this more disturbing than the spying itself. Its obvious
that privacy is now becoming illegal.

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